Engine number on this car looks fine I think. The Reutter door tag is a reproduction. And those deep spot welds you see there Steve are normal, but of course one never sees those at it should have a thick coat of schutz over that area. Looks like whoever restored this didn't bother to do proper sound deadening. =(

Still dunno about those welds James,...they certainly are irregular enough in their spacing and lineup and maybe it’s the glare that makes them look big and deep,...but they did stand out to my eye even though I didn’t mention it in my original post... Ned surely caught it too and they obviously didn’t look right to him either.
Like I said,...may be camera glare.

Also, rough castings are common on these early motors. See photo below of a slightly earlier engine with similar rough casting around the engine number. Many are also smooth.

And I believe this Bonhams car would not have had the blunt hood handle. They had switched to the pointed handle before this point in 1955. I suspect sometime around coupe ~53300, but I could be off a bit. Coupes 53296 and 53333, both very original and unrestored, have pointed handles. ex-Phil Planck's 53248 is the last I know of having the blunt. 53245 also definitely had a blunt. You guys know of any later cars (after March/April 1955) that definitely had one?

James Davies wrote:You guys know of any later cars (after March/April 1955) that definitely had one?

James, Congrats on the new baby!!!

I thought they started installing the pointed handles in October '55 when the 1600s were introduced in the A cars, i.e. coupe no. 55001>>. My #53449 (5/10/55) had the blunt handle installed when I bought it in 1972. The hood is original and I always figured the handle was too. The beehives were carved out and teardrops installed, so if the PO was trying to update the look, what's easier than a new hood handle...who knows? What chassis is your Continental Steve?

My coupe is 53739, and it came to me with no hood handle at all.
I saw a blunt ten years ago pop up on Ebay from EASY and jumped on it. I think I paid $700 as a “buy it now” and I don’t think it was for sale for more than an hour haha.
I wasn’t committed to having one,...just saw it and thought it would be cool to have.
Yes, probably a little too early for my VIN but it does look nice and I can’t imagine that it lowers the value in any event. I figured they’d ended the blunts fairly early in the 55 run so I didn’t include it in my list of issues on that Bonham’s car.

Interesting also is my engine is 35179,..not far from the one in your picture there James.

Here is a close up of the motor stamp .. i've seen rough castings but never a casting that that looks like long horizontal lines . not to mention pretty crisp edges on the numbers for being 60 plus years old.
just an observation i thought worth mentioning .. still a beautiful car .

Thanks Spencer. Didn't realize your car had one too. Interesting. A bit later than I thought, and perhaps a "fuzzy" boundary as well.

Perhaps Don Zingg can comment on when the blunt handles went away on the Speedsters. I seem to recall a March/April 1955 timeframe, but I bet he has good data on this.

They definitely went away though by some point in 1955, as there are lots of period photos of 1955 bent-window cars with pointed hood handles. In fact, there's a photo of a Jade green Continental shared by Bruce Baker a while back. Not sure of the chassis number on this car.

And another photo from Ontario (notice the 1955 plate).

And another photo from Cumberland racetrack in 1956 of a '55 cabriolet.

Taxes: heating the garage doesn't work as a deductible expense except when you are working on it. Insurance, gas , oil, and tune ups are all maintenance,not deductible . parts and labor for restoration are deductible from sale price. In Missouri if you buy a different vehicle within six months profit from sale off sets sales tax.